


Nothing Sweeter

by Hoodedscarlet



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Candy Shop AU, Multi, if you have a inkling on how fluffy this is going to be, youre probably right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-26 02:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1670792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoodedscarlet/pseuds/Hoodedscarlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Geoff’s Sweets, Slice and Mercantile is the one stop shop for any person’s sweet tooth, and Geoff himself most certainly loves his job. But when he finds himself falling in love with not one, but five of his customers, suddenly life gets a whole lot more difficult...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing Sweeter

Geoff’s Sweets, Slice and Mercantile was the one stop shop for any person’s sweet tooth. Whether it was sending gifts to a loved one, impressing a first date or making up for words left said (or in many cases, unsaid) Geoff prided himself on knowing just the candy for the occasion.  
He just had this knack for being able to look a man dead in the eyes and just… _Know_.  
There was always a different flavour for the occasion he said; while he may send away a child with carefully crafted rabbit marshmallow, he’d never give the same thing to a couple celebrating their anniversary or a young man fresh from a break up. He could sense, near taste what sort of sweetness was required, and it would change from day to day for each person. Sometimes it would even change purchase to purchase.  
There were, however, five men whose particular personality had imprinted as a flavor to his mind. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, there was just something about them that had the thought stick like peanut butter to the roof of his mouth – and he couldn’t help but like the taste.  
  
-x-  
  
Jack was like caramel.  
A ooey gooey sweetness, the redhead looked out for the people around him in a way that seemed to be unreal, acted like the glue in a friendship that sometimes you so desperately needed. It was nearly overwhelming, but while his shop was a sweet place it was rare that somebody went so out of the way to return the favor in the way that Jack did and Geoff appreciated every drop of affection.  
  
He had been the first man to find his place, drawn in by the smell of simmering chocolate he had been taken aback by the incredible selection of sweet treats. A self-confessed sweet tooth, Jack started coming in more and more regularly, his compliments on each chocolate making Geoff smile just a little more than what such a simple comment should – and he didn’t mind at all.  
  
-x-  
  
Ray was like mint.  
A particular smoothness to his personality, a taste that loitered on the back of one’s tongue, Ray was the flavor of a man that lingered after he left the room, that left an impression that was larger than life. He came in, and while his exuberant energy was understandable given he was barely out of his teens he had the charm equally of a man twice his age and a fifth of it as well. Mint slice, mint thins, mint centered chocolates, and he would crave them all. Not that Geoff complained; he rather liked seeing the young man after a long day’s work.  
  
Because all it would take was the young man to walk in and Geoff could instantly feel himself stop to smile bright at the young man, offer him a taste of his latest concoction. Because there was a certain fascination that he had with Ray as he could practically see the taste sensation expressed on his face with each bite, and he loved to see more.  
Really, he just liked to see more of Ray – that was just merely a bonus.  
  
-x-  
  
Gavin was like popping candy.  
Placid at first look, even dismissible, but set him going and he would pop and cartwheel all over the place. A ball of uncontainable energy, his smile lit up the room, and like popping candy, left his lips buzzing. Geoff didn’t even need to come out to the store front to see that Gavin had appeared, peering at the various candy filled jars with a childish awe of a kid in a candy shop.  
(Funny why well the simile seemed to fit so well.)  
  
But the games they would play as he browsed, ‘Never Have I Ever’ and ‘Would you rather’ and ‘What if?” were guaranteed to get Geoff into stitches of laughter, and whenever Gavin left Geoff was never quite sure whether the room was already cold or if Gavin just made it feel warm.  
  
-x-  
  
Michael was like cinnamon.  
A taste that would hit you straight in the gut, a flavor that burned and burned as if you were on fire, but still as sweet as any other candy in Geoff’s store. Many a time he had to convince a patron that there was no less sugar in the gun as any other sort and the same could be said for Michael himself; hell, it had taken a few visits from Michael before even he could see through the rough and tough Jersey exterior that Michael held close to him like a shield, a mask. But to wait and see his defenses drop, to hear Michael laugh and smile and rage with no disdain, was enjoyable in a way that Geoff had never quite expected.  
Then again, the man himself was enjoyable in a way Geoff had never expected – and while Michael might not always get rid of all his anger in his shop, Geoff’s day certainly got better whenever the redhead showed his face.  
  
-x-  
  
Ryan was like lemon.  
Now, by no means was the man sour – hell, that was one of the last ways that Geoff would describe Ryan because while he might not have the same youthful energy as some of Geoff’s other customers Ryan had his own sort of sweetness, in the way he seemed to linger, looking over the jars and chocolates methodically before choosing the one that was just right. In the way that he would choose the words that seemed to worm under Geoff’s skin and make him squirm, usually in ways that weren’t quite suitable for work and by god he was luck nobody had overheard some of the conversations they’d had.  
But while Ryan might not have been the most… sane of individuals that visited him his charm had won Geoff over long before he had even realized, and he was not complaining about that one bit.  
  
-x-  
  
He loved them.  
It was a simple realization – knowing exactly why he enjoyed Ryan’s flirtatious conversations or Gavin’s stupid antics or the love and care that Jack went out of the way to supply him with. It had been a long time since his life had been filled with such lively people. Then again, as Geoff was starting to learn, very few people who walked into a candy store were really bad people at heart. That, however, had kind of backfired on him a little. Because one crush? He could deal with that. Five? This was going to get interesting.  
  
-x-  
  
When Gavin had bounded into the room with Michael towed in behind him, Geoff hadn’t made the connection instantly. Who would? He’d never seen the two men together before, hell what would a slow motion cameraman even have to do with a common electrician? But as Gavin proceeded to drag Michael around the shop hand in hand, yelling out how all of Geoff’s stock was ‘bloody top!’ and Michael agreeing with a laugh, Geoff slowly realized.  
  
They were together – and that realization _hurt._  
  
“Couple of love birds I see?” He said, even as the words felt like a weight on his tongue, burnt sugar because no, this was so _wrong._ These were _his_ boys and the selfish part of him was screaming. But drunk in their new love the two lads didn’t notice the bitterness to Geoff’s words, only brought themselves some raspberry and white chocolate sweets and Geoff had to bite his tongue because those weren’t the right flavours for them at all. Raspberries didn’t burn in the same way that cinnamon did, and white chocolate was just too sickly sweet for Gavin.  
  
When they left, Geoff returned to the back room to finish cutting up his latest slice, feet dragging along the floor.  
Ginger crunch.  
How appropriate.  
  
-x-  
  
When Jack and Ryan came into the Mercantile hand in hand, Geoff hoped it was a trick of the light. They didn’t work together, how could they have even met? It felt like a shitty case of déjà vu, except instead of it being a weird feeling during a conversation it was a fucking slap in the face,  
  
“Geoff, hey!” Jack said, a bright smile on his face and the slightest of blushes on his face, like a dusting of icing sugar on his cheeks and Geoff would have found endearing if it didn’t feel like his own guts were trying to strangle him.  
  
“Didn’t even know you two had met.” Geoff said truthfully, trying to keep his carefree smile on his face, pegged up like washing strung up just a bit too tight.  
  
“We only did thanks to your shop.” Ryan replied, and god their voices sounded so alike and each word was a punch in the gut because irony was a harsh mistress and she apparently didn’t like Geoff very much. “Saw this one coming out a lot with chocolates and had to ask for a coffee. I mean, redheads are cute enough as it is” the blush darkened on Jack’s face as Ryan’s thumb skimmed along his knuckles and _would they just stop-_ “but if they’re not embarrassed of his sweet tooth that’s just icing on the cake. Well.” Ryan paused for a moment, looking over at his boyfriend and smirking. “That embarrassed.”  
  
The comment lead to a lovers quarrel between the two men, the words peppered with a love that Geoff tried to tune out as he filled the bag with their regulars (trying to resist the urge not to bring out the caramels or the lemon flavoured chocolates because this wasn’t his time, this wasn’t the place even as he so desperately wished it was.)  
When they left, he returned to stacking the last of his slices into the display cabinet, cursing as he realized what one it was.  
Rocky Road.  
  
Irony was a harsh mistress.  
  
-x-  
  
He had never looked forward to seeing Ray so much in his life.  
While the young man never came more than once or twice a week apparently today was a special exception as he trotted in with hands thrust deep into his hoodie pockets. Not unusual, considering the weather, but Geoff’s expression feel the moment he saw the dejected look on Ray’s face.  
“Not looking too good there?” Geoff asked, leaning over the counter with nothing but compassion in his eyes.  
  
“Not feeling too good.” Ray admitted, standing in the centre of the shop and bouncing on the soles of his feet. Geoff pulled out the set behind the counter and Ray sat down gratefully.  
  
“What can I do for you Ray?” Geoff said.  
  
“I’m in love. And it sucks.” Ray said curtly.  
  
“And how is that a problem? Everybody falls in love.” Geoff said, careful not to let a slip of the tongue ruin the moment because no, he was not going to force his own problems on Ray when he was clearly stressed about something else already - although he'd be lying if he wasn't hoping it was about him.  
  
“I’m in love with two other guys. At the same time. And they’re already together.”  
  
Shit.  
  
“Gavin and Michael, I think they come here.” Ray said, sinking into his chair. “I mean, its hard enough to find guys that are into other guys you know? They’re probably perfectly happy how they are.”  
  
“Do you think there’s a chance?”  
  
“Huh?” Ray said, looking up from his hands.  
  
“Do you think there’s a chance that they might like you back?”  
  
“Well, I guess so.” Ray said, shrugging. “I mean, we’ve been friends for a while and I think they’ve been flirting with me? But they’re both with each other now and really, wouldn’t have they talked to me by now?” Geoff just barked out a peel of laughter, shocking Ray out of his self-pitying slump.

“Have you ever considered that they might be intimated by _you_?” He said, pushing his own selfish feelings to the side. “I mean, clearly they have some sort of feelings towards you and worst that can happen is that they reject you and everything goes back to normal. So have you ever thought about, I don’t know, just _asking?_ ”  
  
“But how fucking awkward would it be if they don’t like me back?”  
  
“Well, you’re going to feel stupid as dicks if they do like you and you never asked.” Geoff retorted. Ray pursed his lips, clearly thinking over the new information intently.  
“You’re not going to know unless you try.” Geoff added softly, cursing internally as he realized he should probably consider taking his own advice. But it was worth it to see Ray’s face brighten with a newfound resolve.  
  
“I think I will.” He said, before rattling off a short list of various sugary items, Geoff knowing exactly what he was buying for who and knowing he was buying it for the wrong person.  
By the time he got back to the kitchen, his hands were shaking as he looked at the sweet he had been cooking.  
  
Peanut Brittle.  
  
God _damnit._  
  
-x-  
  
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t even a week before Ray was together with the other two younger men. Frankly, Geoff should have seen it coming; the lads got on like a house on fire as he had seen whenever they had come into the store. Actually, everybody’s new found relationships didn’t stop them coming into the store and talking with him like everything was back to normal. Like they were all still single and the thought of doing sappy romantic things with any of them didn’t send bile rising in the back of his throat.  
  
Barbara had always been another favorite customer of his; while definitely not in the same way as Michael, Ryan and the rest he sincerely looked forward to seeing her whenever she was able to make it – like a few of his regulars she was ironically actually pretty _irregular_ with her appearances, although he could usually count on seeing her once a week at the very least.  
  
“And how are you today, my lovely lady?” He said, her giving a little flourish in return as he came out. Barbra just laughed, popping a sample into her mouth and savoring the flavor. Vanilla bean and white chocolate – while Geoff couldn’t put a flavor to her in the way he could to the boys, he did appreciate how vanilla seemed to compliment her personality.  
  
“Not too bad.” Barbara said with a smile that said she was definitely doing better than ‘not too bad’. “Yourself?”  
  
“Alright,” Geoff replied honestly “just getting along, you know?”  
  
“Well everybody has their bad days.” Barbara shrugged, leaning against the counter with an easy smile on her face.  
  
“Well at least you’re not in the middle of one.” Geoff added with a smile.  
  
“How did you know?”  
  
“You’ve got that stupid grin on your face.” Geoff teased. “Whenever you’ve got that on your face I know something’s up.” Barbara sighed in mock defeat.  
  
“Oh, you’ve caught me! God forbid I get excited over a date.” With further prompting, she went on. “Red head, short, spunky. She’s adorable. Also doesn’t run from my puns so I’m not complaining. Plus she already seems more invested in the relationship then Gavin ever was when I was dating him. I mean, he’s still my best friend but sometimes I worry for his boyfriends.” She shook her head. “I mean, hell, there’s apparently four of them now and he could barely stay focused on one!”  
  
He hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant.  
  
“Who is it now?”  
  
“Ryan and Jack or something? Honestly the five of them’ve been holed up in one of their apartments since they got together. Probably getting busy if you ask me.” She said, rolling her eyes and laughing even as Geoff could feel his heart sink into his stomach and start to burn.  
Because god, each of those men he’d been watching adoringly from a distance for months, years for a few of them and he had fallen so hard. He’d been falling for so long and suddenly he’d crash-landed into the reality that they were all happy.  
They were all happy together- without him.  
  
He could see the concern instantly cross Barbara’s face, and already he knew she suspected too much. The small talk that followed was the hardest thing that Geoff had needed to do in a very long time.  
As soon as the door closed behind Barbara and the lock slid into place Geoff could feel the tears well in his eyes – and he didn’t even make it halfway to the kitchen before he could feel the first dry sob wrenched from his chest. Because it hurt, it _hurt_ that they acted like nothing had changed. The cheeky jokes and ‘what ifs’ from Gavin, the saccharine conversation from Jack, the shifting insanity of Ryan and the rage of Michael and the cool calm of Ray and he just couldn’t deal with this because he’d wanted them for so long why hadn’t he asked ryan out for coffee or for jack to stay just a bit longer worked up the courage to take his own fucking advice whywhywhy-  
He couldn’t even finish filling the brandy snaps.  
  
-x-  
  
For the first time in years, his shop remained closed on the Monday morning.  
The last time that sugar had taste so bitter on his tongue had been when his wife had left him; and while he had been certain they would spend the rest of their lives together life just didn’t want to work in his favour on that occasion. He had found solace in the way a dusting of icing sugar made a desert look professional, in the way a drizzle of chocolate, a touch of caramel, a scoop of berries mixed in just right could change how a candy tasted completely. Cooking was experimental but sweets, sweets were a science and he knew the formula. Perhaps it wasn’t exactly the expected route a man like him would take – but he’d always been somewhat of a romantic at heart beneath the tattoos.  
  
Perhaps that was what make this heartbreak all the worse for him – and while he could deal with sugar tasting bitter when his heart was breaking five times over all he could taste was salt on his tongue.  
What kind of confectioner could create like that?  
  
But time had to go on. He had bills to meet, food to buy and while he was hardly struggling for money he knew that if he missed another day it would turn into a week, a month and then where would he be? What good had been opening this shop in the first place? Plus, letting some good chocolate go to waste felt like an absolute crime.  
  
When Geoff arrived back the next day, it was to a store with dust already starting to coat the glass jars that held his merchandise, the chocolates forlorn and arranged haphazardly in their glass prison. It was cold, so cold and he sighed as he started to clean the place up. He was sure he had a few extra chocolates boxed in the back he could unpack to put in the display cabinet, and the dusting would only take a few moments-  
  
He hadn’t expected the double rap at the door – and he certainly hadn’t expected it to be Gavin.  
He wasn’t sure whether his heart started to race out of excitement or his doomed affection (perhaps a good measure of both) but it certainly replaced the unfitted one that was as sweet as the candy around him.  
  
“Gavin! Haven’t seen you for a bit. How are you doing?”  
  
“Alright, alright.” Gavin replied. Geoff quirked an eyebrow.

“Only alright? Seems a bit of a staple answer for a man fresh into a new relationship.” Gavin just shrugged.  
  
“We’re sorting out some of the more serious things for the relationship you know? Who we want in the relationship and boundries and shit. Not really my scene so I thought I’d soothe everybody over with some chocolates before I have to sit down and be boring again.” He started to rattle off a list to Geoff, and the chocolate selection was wrong, so wrong-  
  
Wait.  
  
“Hey Gavin?” he asked, straightening up. “Do you think you could swing past later tonight? I, ah, have something to give you.”  
  
“Sure, I guess.” Gavin replied. “I’ll try and get a ride. What am I getting?”  
  
“A gift.” Geoff replied, perhaps a bit too quickly but by god, he was going to give them the god damn chocolates they deserved if it was the last thing he did. “For all five of you.”  
  
“Sounds good!” Gavin said, a bright smile crossing his face and Geoff could feel the butterflies fluttering in his gut as Gavin left.  
Wow, he was so fucked.  
  
-x-  
  
He had set into the kitchen with a new found determination, sugar melting sweet on his tongue again as he started to mix and match ingredients – hell, it was as if he had absorbed a bit of Ryan’s madness as he dove head first into his project. But who could blame him? These chocolates had to be _perfect._ Obviously a part of him, in love drunken stupor was hoping that this would finally bring them back to him. But even if that wasn’t case, perhaps knowing they had finally tastes the chocolate that was _right_ for them would help him move on.  
  
Jack was a large piece of buttery caramel, coated in dark chocolate to offset the richness of the centre. Michael was a few pieces of spiced chocolate; his own special blend which he liked to tamper regularly, and it was probably fitting that this particular blend had more cinnamon than most. Ray was a peppermint cream, lovingly dipped in milk chocolate. Ryan was a lemon cream coated in white chocolate – he made sure that the lemon had that extra kick, because if anybody could appreciate that it was Ryan. For Gavin, lucky last, he reverted to a mixture that he rarely used outside his children’s chocolates, a milk chocolate filled to the brim with popping candy. He dressed it up all nice and pretty though – Geoff chuckled to himself as he imagined the Brit biting into it only to discover its secret.  
  
Each chocolate was laid into purple tissue in a compartmented box, Geoff painstakingly arranging them before scrawling each man’s name on the cardboard beside their respective chocolate and he’d be lying if he said his hands weren’t shaking. His nerves only increased as time went by and honestly, Geoff was surprised he got any work done at all due to his near obsession with the box.  
  
Strangely enough, it was Jack that came in at the end of the day – although with the shadows bleeding into the surroundings and the street lamps lighting up he should’ve seen it coming. The Brit couldn’t drive, how was he going to get here? Walk?  
  
“Gavin said that you had something for… us?” Jack said, hesitation in his voice, like he wasn’t sure if he’d read the situation right. Geoff hoped it wasn’t a negative read.  
  
“Yeah.” He said, sliding the box across to Jack, who with hands that ran along the edges of the box like it was fine china lifted the lid. Geoff could see Jack’s eyes widening at the sight; Geoff hoped his nervous hands weren’t visible.  
  
“You made these for us?” Jack said, disbelief riddling his voice.  
  
“Yeah,” Geoff said, and he hoped that the feeling of his cheeks heating was just his imagination “I’ve, ah, noticed you’re like certain flavors but you’ve never tasted them from my place. So here’s a test.” He smiled wider at the end of his admittedly shitty explanation, hoping that Jack got his wave length.  
  
“That’s incredible.” Jack replied, pausing a moment as if to recollect his thoughts. “I… Thank you.”  
  
“My pleasure.” Geoff said. They exchanged more pleasantries before Jack left – but for the first time in a long time when Geoff’s returned home and his head touched the pillow he could slip into dreams without any further prompting.  
  
-x-  
  
Monday brought something different.  
Geoff had just finished placing the last of the strawberry crème chocolates into the cabinet, each one place just so to present the flourish of icing on the top. It was still early, the cold winter’s sun only just beginning to touch the store front and not for the first time he was glad that he’d spent the extra money to get the place insulated and heated. However, he was so caught up in his own little world he almost fell over when a double rap at the door thundered through the room.  
  
“We’re clo-“ he started to yell, before he realized firstly, it was a young woman (and yelling at a young woman wasn’t exactly high on his to do list today) and secondly, she was holding the largest bouquet of roses he’d seen in years. Quickly he made his way over to the door, unlocking it.  
  
“Are you lost?”  
  
"If this isnt 24 Baker Street and you aren’t Geoff Ramsey, yes.” The woman replied. "Considering the look on your face though, yes. These are for you." After a moment of stunned silence on Geoff’s part the bunch was pressed into his hands. He took the bouquet with careful fingers, as if convinced that blooms would shatter if dropped, roses of red and white filling the room with a sweet fragrance. Who on earth…?  
A small card tickled at his fingers, and curious, he opened it. Inside was neatly printed writing that he swore looked familiar.  
 _  
Roses are red,  
and mint is green,  
I must be in love,  
because you’re the hottest thing I’ve seen.  
  
_ Oh.  
“Secret admirer?” The woman asked, laughing at the dumfound look on his face as she placed a vase on the countertop “It looks like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a bunch of flowers.”  
  
“Well its been a long as dicks time since I got one.” He admitted, playing with the leaves of the bouquet for a moment longer before placing the bunch in the supplied vase. It was beautiful.  
And he had no idea who had given it to him. However, even pestering Lindsay (her name according to her nametag) got him nowhere – apparently they had specifically asked not to give a name alongside the card.  
It didn’t matter really, because for the rest of the day he was smiling so brightly it thought like his face might break in two.  
  
-x-  
  
The next day brought a smaller bouquet of flowers – if the giver of the flowers was trying to remain anonymous he had kind of failed spectacularly. It looked like the messages had been started half a dozen times, scrawlings scribbled out until they managed to fit their message at the bottom of the card.  
  
 _You can be a minging idiot but really, you’re bloody top!  
  
_ Why Gavin was sending him a bouquet of flowers was beyond him, but it didn’t explain the one from yesterday. He still didn’t know who sent it, however Lindsay clearly knew more than he did as she walked from the shop with a smirk on her face.  
  
By the third day of Lindsay appearing Geoff was convinced that this had to be his boys – he swore he could smell Michael’s aftershave on it as he read the card.  
  
 _You make me really ~~fucking~~ happy – I hope I can start doing that in return.  
  
_ The hopeless romantic in him was already jumping to conclusions – that they loved him, that they thought as much of him as he did of them.  
The worst part was that the rest of him was starting to believe it too.  
Barbara was quick to comment on the newfound garden overtaking his store as she brought a rather fancy box of chocolates – Geoff couldn’t even bring himself to groan at her puns. (Well, he did groan once, when Barbara said that she’d ‘leaf’ him to his work; but that was a significant improvement to most days).  
  
The fourth bouquet what when Geoff started feeling spoilt – a small bunch of fragrant lilies , Lindsay had said, still in bud to preserve their fragrance. The card was just as sweet as the others; he could feel a smile spread across his face  
  
 _I think coming into your store was the best thing I ever did, because I got to meet you._  
  
Lindsay was acting unusually shifty today, collar tight around her neck and scarf wrapped tight around it. It wasn’t until Geoff had gotten her to relax that she let her guard down – and the dark bruises that he could see littering her neck spoke for themselves. Looked like Barbara had chosen the right sort of chocolates after all.  
  
By the Friday his counter was overflowing with flowers, (the last card reading _How you doing, hot stuff?)_ Lindsay had visited him every single day of the week, and none of the guys had shown their face at all. By now Geoff was convinced this was either some very elaborate and very mean prank, or that they were totally hitting on him.  
Admittedly, he was very, very excited by that later prospect.  
When Michael appeared in the doorway after a long day at work, Geoff hadn’t known quite what to do. Well, he knew what to do _physically_ ; it was cold out there and warm in here and he unlocked the door to let the younger man in. His cheeks had flushed from the cold and god, he looked so _cute._  
  
“Hey.”  
  
“Hey.” Michael said, an easy smile on his face and oh shit he could see the others coming in behind him oh god stay calm stay calm stay calm-  
  
“…I got your flowers.”  
Perfect. Way to look like a dumbass.  
  
“We know.” Michael said, “Lindsay’s a good friend of mine, she’s been filling us in.”  
  
“So you have all the connections to get chocolate and flowers.” Geoff replied. “No wonder you have four boyfriends.”  
  
“Well,” Ryan said, a smirk crossing his face that reminded Geoff just why people liked to call him ‘mad’. “I hope we didn’t make it too subtle that we’d like you to join us. Maybe come out for coffee with us and see how it goes?”

  
 _Oh.  
  
_ He’s suspected it, sure he had but to hear the words coming out of his mouth, to see the reassuring nods and smiles from the others made his heart kick into double time in his chest and he wasn’t quite sure whether he wanted to rush into their arms and kiss them hard or to try and stay somewhat collected (because no, they aren’t exactly dating yet, are they?). Thankfully, the decision was made for him as Jack stepped towards him, arms outstretched and Geoff fell into the warm embrace. Ryan followed behind him, then Ray, then Michael and finally Gavin until he was just surrounded in the tightest, most loving embrace that he’d felt in a long time.  
  
“So how about that coffee?” Gavin said, and suddenly Geoff couldn’t contain his laughter because god, how could have he been so _stupid,_ how had he waited so long? Because for the first time in years, he finally felt right.  
  
-x-  
  
It turned out that Geoff was just as picky with his coffee as he was with his chocolate - if it was too grainy or sweet or milky or too black he could barely swallow the drink down. It was better than getting hot chocolate as the alternative though. There was going to be no winner in trying to get a chocolatier a hot chocolate at a chain café.  
  
“This is why I never go to Starbucks.” He mumbled into his half empty paper cup, still wondering how he had struggled through as much as he had. “Who’s idea was this again?”  
  
“I really wanted to try that new caramel mocha blend though!” Gavin whined, clutching his own very empty cup in one hand, his other arm slung around Michael’s shoulders.  
  
“Was it worth it though?” Jack said, finishing off his own coffee.  
  
“Sure was!”  
  
“You probably couldn’t even taste the difference.” Ryan accused, hand running over Geoff’s knee and wow it was hard to concentrate when that was sitting right _there.  
_ Their past few coffee dates had been nothing but a dream – it seemed to Geoff that the other men were making up for lost time, constantly trying to get an arm or a hand or playing footsie under the table. He’d been doing that with Ray just before, but considering the café table was about as solid as a piece of wet bread when he’d jerked upwards to escape Ray’s foot he’d managed to knock both Ray and Jack’s drinks over. (He’d insisted on buying them another one, but apparently ‘ _we’re taking **you** out on this date, so you’re not paying for shit okay.’_ )  
  
In the corner of his eye, he could see two familiar woman at another table, deep in conversation and giggling and if Geoff hadn’t already been smiling it would have made his face light up. Barbara saw him too, and waved a little bit before Lindsay jokingly smacked her upside the head, grabbing her face and turning it back to her and really, was anybody surprised that transformed into a kiss?  
His gaze zipped back to the table though as he felt Ryan’s fingers slowly start to trail up his leg, tracing swirls into his thigh higher and higher-  
“Are you trying to sex me up in the middle of the street?” Geoff said quietly, rolling his eyes even as a slight blush rose up on his cheeks. His boys were good at doing that. (And to finally be able to say they were _his_ was a pleasure like no other.)  
  
“Only if you want to.” Ryan said, quirking an eyebrow like only he could.  
  
“I mean, we’re not going to be complaining.” Ray added, a sultry smile on his face and wow he did not need a boner right now.  
  
“You guys are stupid as dicks.” Geoff said, shaking his head and laughing.  
  
“Only because we loooove you~” Gavin sing songed in return, Michael just laughing before leaning over to kiss Geoff on the cheek. Well. That was the intention. But Geoff had gone to do the exact same thing and they had met in the middle in the exact way one would expect and the kiss was everything he wanted it to be. Even as the other guys started to tease them for not being able to keep it in their pants and Michael not so subtly flaunted that he got the first kiss Geoff couldn’t help sinking back in his chair, taking another sip of his sub par coffee. Because sure, he worked day in and day out with sugar, but there was nothing sweeter than love, and these men were going to rot his teeth.  
  
For some reason, Geoff didn’t seem to mind at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at http://dashofscarlet.tumblr.com/ C:


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